Drier



w.AQ HARTY ET AL 1,824,717

DRIER Sept. 22, 1931.

Filed May 26, 1930 .hu/venan' .Envir Patented Sept. 22, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE WILLIAM A. HARTY, F BUFFALO, NEW YORK, AND FRANK W. MOORE, 0F THOROLD, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNORS TO HARMOR @c CO. INC.,u OFBUFFALO, NEW YORK,

.A CORPORATION .OF NEW 'YORK y DRIER Applicationy led Hay 26, 1930. Serial No. 455,602.

This invention i's a continuation in part of our prior application, Serial No. 228,212, to which reference is made as containing a general discussion of the installation and main- 5 tenance problems presented in drying material with a rotary drier ofthe hot mandrel type wherein the mandrel and shell rotate in unison and the drying heat is projected into one end of the mandrel.

Our present invention contemplates certain improvements upon the drier disclosed in said prior application, particularly in respect to the means for supporting the mandrel within the shell to rotate therewith while at the saine time compensating for the expanding and contracting movements of the mandrel,

due to temperature changes. v

The mandrel ex ands and contracts both 'radially and longitudinally and the means which mount the mandrel in the shell in spaced relation thereto must not only serve to transmit the rotary effect of the shell to the mandrel but must also automatically take Y up the longitudinal and radial expanding and contracting movements of the mandrel relative to the shell.

Where the inner shell of the drier 'has simply been pivoted within the outer shell, as in prior art driers, such pivotal connections merely allowed the inner shell to creep longitudinally relative to the outer shell under expansion and contraction changes. No particular provision was made for oppos ing or otherwise compensating for such longitudinal movement, nor for compensating for the radial expansion and contraction movement of the inner shell relative to the outer shell, which radial movement if uncompensated for is equally as disastrous as uncompensated for longitudinal movement.

According to our invention, we compensate for both longitudinal and radial expansion and contraction movements of the mandrel relative to the outer shell, and in res ect to such longitudinal movement we rovi e'that the mandrel shall move in a s raight line, rather than in an arc, thus avoiding any tendency to distort either the mandrel or the shell.

In our construction, moreover, the mandrel supporting means is so constructed as effectively to seal the outer shell at all times against the exit therefrom of any part of the irnaterial being dried at the points of suppor These, and various. other advantages of structure, operation andv assembly, are allsecured in the drier of the presentinvention. In the accompanying drawings, we have illustratedpne characteristic embodiment of our invention which we have found highly satis. factory inuse and well adapted to the rewith. The drying heat may be projected into the firing end of themandrel from any suitable heat source, as the burner B, and the space S `between the mandrel and shell constitutes an open-ended drying chamber withinl which the material to be dried is introduced at the firing end of the drier and from which it is discharged at the opposite end.

For convenience of manufacture, shipment and assembly, als well as replacement or substitution of parts, both shell and mandrel are preferably made in sections, such sections beingv flanged at their meeting ends` to permit them to be bolted to each other in' endwise assembly.

The drier as a unit is supported, preferably at a slight inclination to the horiontal, on any suitable supports, and is driven in any suitable manner. For this purpose, each 95 shell section may have one or more Vcircumferential tires 3 adapted to run on suitable roll' ers 4 on the drier supports. These latter may be simple trestles or bases 5 and 6, one of which is provided with end thrust rolls 7 to take u any end thrust resulting from the incline position of the drier.

The bases 5 and 6 are capable of being up-ended to serve as wheeled trucks on which 5 the drier may be transported from place to place in the drying room or elsewhere, the rollers 4 in such use functioning as ground wheels.

The use of such bases moreover makes possible a direct drive for the drier. In such case, one of the bases serves as a mount for .i an electric motor M, the shaft 8 of which has a sprocket 9 which through a chain 10 Idrives a sprocket 11 on the shell 1. Obvi- 2:15@ ously, of course, other forms of drive, whether direct or indirect, may be employed.

l The mandrel sections are telescopically @fitted one within the other, and the entire nandrel assembly is so mounted within the '1f'lell as not only to rotate in unison therewith but also that both its longitudinal and its radial expanding and contracting movements shall be compensated for.

Tothis end, the means by which the mandrel is suspended within the shell are constructed both afs motion transmitting connections which transmit the! rotary effect of the shell to the mandrel so that both shell and mandrel rotate in unison and as com- 30 pensating devices for taking up the expansion and contraction movements of the mandrel in either a longitudinal or a radial' direction.

This result is accomplished by the use of the special mandrel supporting means detailed in Fig. 4. In practice, sets of four spring suspension rods, indicated generally at 12 are preferably used, although our invention is not limited to this or any other number of rods. These rods are disposed radially of the drier in equi-distantly spaced relation. At their inner ends, each rod is hinged to the mandrel.V This may be done by means of a continuous band or collar 13 encirclin the mandrel and fixed thereto in any suita le manner, such band being formed at suitable intervals with a plurality of outwardly projecting ear pairs 14 between which the inner ends of the rods 12 are hinged as A at 15, or the band may be an interrupted band,-

in which event it would present four spaced alined segments each having a pair of ears rod a socket fiange 16 through which the rod extends centrally. Each flange 16 is fastened as at 17 to the outer face of the shell'and is formed with an outwardly facing cupped socket 18 adapted to receive a packing retainer 18', a packing 19 and a ball spring seat 20, all assembled on the rod in the order named. Seated on the ball spring seat 20 and held on the outerv threaded end line, with consequent avoidance of any tendency to distort either the shell or mandrel. Moreover, the packing 19 provides an effective seal for the shell at the holes therein through which the rods 12 pass, thus preventing outward leakage from the shell of the material being dried, and this seal is maintained 'as tight as desired by the spring 23 which when set up compresses the packing between the packing retainer 18 and the spring seat 20.

y By varying the degree of tightening of the nut 22 on the spring, the tension of the spring may be varied and adjusted to the come-and-go of the mandrel either longitudinally or radially.

Various modifications in the construction and operation of our device may obviously be resorted to if within the spirit and scope of our invention Without departing from the limits of the appended claims.

What we therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a drier, spaced inner and outer shells, suspension members connecting said shells, said members hinged at their lnner ends to the inner shell and having ball and socket connection at their outer ends with said outer shell. l

2. In a drier, spaced inner and outer shells, suspension members connecting said shells, said members hinged at their inner ends to the inner shell and having ball and socket connection at their outer ends with said outer shell, and exterior means tensioning said suspension members for automatically taking up the. radial and longitudinal expansion and contraction movements of the inner shell relative to the outer shell.

3. In a drier, spaced inner and outer shells, suspension members connecting said shell, said members hinged to said inner shell and having ball and socket connection at their SSB tiri

outer ends with said outer shell, springs applied to said suspension members beyond said ball and socket connections, and exterior means for adjusting the tension of said springs.

4. In a drier, spaced inner and outer shells, rods set through said outer shell and hinged at their inner ends to said inner shell, socket flanges fastened to said outer shell exteriorly thereof, ball spring seats assembled on said rods beyond said socket flanges, springs assembled on said rods beyond said seats, and means for adjusting the tension of said springs.

5. In a drier, spaced inner and outer shells, rods set through said outer shell and hinged at their inner ends to said inner shell, socket flanges fastened to said outer shell exteriorly thereof7 said flanges pierced to receive said rods and each provided with an outwardly facing cupped socket, a packing and a rounded sprmg seat assembled on each rod and compressively fitted within a flange socket, said packing sealing the opening in the socket flange through which the rod passes whereby to prevent leakage therethrough of the material being dried from the outer shell, a spring assembled on each rod beyond the spring seat, and means for adjusting the tension of said springs.

6. In a drier, spaced inner and outer shells, means for heating one of said shells, and means mounting said inner shell within said outer shell and automatically effective to take up both the radial and the longitudinal expansion and contraction movements of the inner shell relative to the outer shell, said means including rods hinged at their inner ends to saidinner shell and having ball and socket connection at their outer ends with said outer shell.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

WILLIAM A. HARTY. FRANK W. MOORE. 

